Jess Row

they don't have the capacity to compel obedience by the process of law.

they don't have the capacity to compel obedience by violence.

the only lever by which they can obtain obedience is fear.

do not offer it to them.

By the way, any organization can be directly democratic. Your union, your workplace, your bookclub, your government. City, state, and federal.

The shape of politics in the US right now is increasingly that the media, political and economic elites are allied with the Trump regime against the actual people of the country who hate it

No notes

GO OFF LORD GRANTHAM

En librairie depuis le 20 août chez Albin Michel. Un grand livre sur la résignation combative, celle d'une génération qui laisse à ses enfants un monde en déréliction. Chronique d'Un monde nouveau de @jessrow.bsky.social sur Playlist Society www.playlistsociety.fr/2025/09/un-m...

A Few Things I Learned From the World's Oldest Novel Novelists have been equal parts exuberant and anxious for at least 2000 years.

jessrow.substack.com/p/a-few-thin...

I didn't read nearly as much as I wanted to this summer, but I'm a new fan of CHAEREAS AND CALLIRHOE and think you should read it too: "It’s violent, sordid, funny, surreal, and thoroughly human, sort of like Pirates of the Caribbean written by the Coen Brothers." Link in comments.

The Story of a Story: "Summer Song" Mark your calendars: Storyknife comes out in July 2026.

jessrow.substack.com/p/the-story-...

I have a new collection of short stories coming out next summer! I'll be posting about the stories all year on my Substack, if you'd like to subscribe. Link in comments.

Homeland Security @DHSgov Which way, American man? http://JOIN.ICE.GOV photo of uncle sam with his hat off at a crossroads with title "America Needs You, Join ICE Now"

DHS is recruiting using a not-so-subtle reference to a 1978 book from white nationalist William Gayley Simpson, Which Way Western Man?

Simpson's book was released under an imprint associated with the National Alliance, founded by Turner Diaries author William Luther Pierce.

i have been stuck on JD Vance's claremont speech for almost two weeks now because it is structurally identical to roger taney's opinion for the court in dred scott

The Ear Scene is one of the most disturbing moments in the whole history of American film. Madsen was a terrific actor, undervalued and not given as many roles as he should have been. Ars longa vita brevis.

This @propublica.org video is incredible. It shows how billionaires live on loans. Their repayment interest rate is a fraction of what you'd pay in income tax if you actually *worked*.

Time for everyone to complain loudly enough to blast a hole in the inbox & phone of every elected representative.

establishment dems don't want to win. they want to keep getting wooed by corporate interests and driven around and enjoying their lifestyles and to never retire or die and they resent that the natural human life cycle means that they will inevitably have to make way for another generation

Damn, Joyce Maynard runs a hotel in Guatemala? What a life.

Flanagan is the GOAT and everyone else is just a pale imitation

Kafkaesque and indicative of a system where skin color determines guilt, and institutional connections determine narrative

This guy just became my fav American politician bar none

We feed you.
They hunt us.

Is she kidding? She knows this is a joke, right?

Remembering Obama crafting what was just about a perfect compromise between Republican & Democrat positions at the time including a dramatic, I think maybe unprecedented, increase in enforcement & deportation.

A classic NYC mayor tweet

My three-year-old was watching CNN when she turned to me gravely and asked “Daddy, why did the nice crypto man abduct and torture the tourist?” And when I told her “Because job creators are entitled to break the rules sometimes,” she started crying.

NYT: Israeli Forces Said They Killed a ‘Terrorist.’ He Was 14 Years Old. The death of Amer Rabee, a Palestinian American in the West Bank, has spurred anger over soldiers’ use of force and an apparent lack of accountability.

fucking cowards

Damn, I was sort of hoping this would be an online thing so I could read along. The times have never been better to say Nein.

Filmmakers Denounce Industry ‘Silence’ About the Killing of Cannes Film Subject Ralph Fiennes and Yorgos Lanthimos were among over 350 artists to sign an open letter denouncing the industry’s silence in response to Cannes film subject, Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona.

Ralph Fiennes and Yorgos Lanthimos were among over 350 artists to sign an open letter denouncing the industry’s silence in response to Cannes film subject, Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona.

Un-American for thine, graduation for mine.

Hasan Piker’s ICE detainment is a cautionary tale for multiple reasons The progressive Twitch star's account of his experience shows unchecked power, and what *not* to do if detained.

“I could explain Hasan Piker’s politics to you, but that’s entirely irrelevant. The bold, all caps, underlined point is that a high profile, US-born American citizen was detained on Sunday by ICE for, it would seem, the crime of speech.”

There’s so much happening right now, I thought I’d put together a running thread on the dismantling of #climate and research and knowledge infrastructure in the United States 🧵